For Sam Song Li’s breakout role, acting opposite Michelle Yeoh in a Netflix series isn’t too shabby. While you may recognize the 28-year-old from Never Have I Ever, Home Economics, or Better Call Saul, his genuine talent and comedic genius shines in the new Asian American gangster comedy, The Brothers Sun, now streaming on Netflix.
Created by Brad Falchuk (Glee, American Horror Story, and Scream Queens) and Byron Wu, the series stars Academy Award-winning actress Michelle Yeoh as Eileen Sun, the wife of a triad leader who is attacked by a mystery assassin. Eileen’s eldest son, Charles (Justin Chien), must travel from Taipei to Los Angeles to protect his family, which includes his mother and his brother Bruce (Song Li), an improv-loving college student blissfully unaware of his family’s criminal ties to the underworld.
The Brothers Sun takes place in Los Angeles and Taiwan, proudly boasting an all-Asian writers’ room and cast. The first season weaves together captivating martial arts sequences, compelling family drama, and a touch of churros.
Song Li delivers an outstanding performance as Bruce, skillfully mastering the character’s naiveness that makes him so relatable. The actor’s success may be attributed to his close connection with the character. When he stumbled upon the casting call online, Song Li was taken aback by the striking similarities. “I was raised by a single mom. I was doing improv at the time. I felt really close with the material,” he shared.
Forbes caught up with Song Li to learn what it was like acting opposite Michelle Yeoh, the importance of this project for furthering Asian representation in Hollywood, his impressive social media presence, and more. Read the full interview below.
How is this role different from other characters you’ve portrayed in the past?
Sam Song Li: I feel like there’s something about Bruce’s naivety that really stood out to me when I was reading it. He walks this fine line between confidence when he needs to and uncertainty because everything’s so new to him. But he’s confident because he’s willing to hide things from his mother and go out and get things he wants.
But when he’s confronted with things, there’s a sort of uncertainty or fear of the unknown. I think I really played into that. I was also able to do another Netflix show right around the same time, in season four of Never Have I Ever. In that role, I’m a very pretentious Columbia student where I’m very certain. I feel like that uncertainty really stood out and works very well for the dynamic between the brothers, but also the story as a whole.
What was it like working alongside the legendary Michelle Yeoh?
Sam Song Li: Here’s the thing about working with Michelle. It’s effortless. If you play with Steph Curry, you’re gonna win the championship. Every pass that Tom Brady throws at you, you’re gonna catch. It was so easy. She has this presence about her. When she walks on set, you can tell she’s a star. And the way she carries herself, how approachable she is, how lovable she is, how genuine she is to everybody. It’s something that really stood out to me.
What about Justin Chien?
Sam Song Li: And Justin, oh, my goodness. This is both of our breakout roles. Even though this is our first project, you can tell that this guy is the real deal. And his work ethic, his attitude, his passion and love for the craft — you could tell that he was inspired by the greats. This is something that Justin has wanted for his whole life. And he was very, very dedicated. When the spotlight was on him, he was fully confident and took action.
How did you prepare to play Bruce? What was the most challenging prep work that you had to do?
Sam Song Li: We had an absolutely phenomenal stunt department. They are extremely well-known. They get to play badass Taiwanese gangsters in the triad. But when it came to my role, they were like, ‘No, no, no, stay away from us.’ We don’t want you to see any of this because you need to look as clueless as possible.
There were some moments where I had to choreograph some fight scenes to know what I’m doing on the day of. But felt like my athletic background was able to help me navigate all of that, and they were very excited that I was athletic and confident enough to do my own stunts. Some sequences it’s actually me, you know, I get to run around like a chicken with his head cut off.
What does it mean for you to be part of this all-Asian project, considering the underrepresentation of Asian actors in Hollywood?
Sam Song Li: This is incredibly important being in an all-Asian project, having this many Asian faces in front and behind the camera. I mean, this is the stuff that moves the needle, right? This is the stuff that changes the conversation down the line. I also want to pay homage to all of the other projects that came before us that really paved the way to allow us to be here.
But at the same time, I also hope that this project can inspire a generation of filmmakers of projects that that also can reflect the Asian American community on screen. It’s a huge blessing. And it’s a huge celebration of Asian diversity on screen.
Can you share more about your online videos on TikTok and Instagram? How did you first get involved in creating on social media?
Sam Song Li: How I got into content creation as a whole, funny enough, was out of necessity, but also of wanting to pursue acting. When I first stumbled upon wanting to be an actor, it was probably in high school in 2010. There was not a lot of Asian actors on screen. I didn’t know that was a reality or a possibility. So, I did the next best thing, which is to get involved in video production. I started off directing and producing my own videos. I might have been ahead of my time because I was putting myself in my own videos and showing it in school projects. I’ve always dabbled in writing, producing and directing my own skits and stories.
Then at some point, I transitioned more into acting and I gained more confidence because I realized, ‘Hey, maybe a traditional acting career is what I want.’ And it was what I wanted, because it was so much more fulfilling than content at the time. It’s so competitive and there’s so much uncertainty. I felt like doing content was in a lot of ways out of necessity, but it always complemented my journey of becoming an actor.
What’s next for you?
Sam Song Li: Speaking of content, I had an opportunity this year to do a pilot about an influencer who gets canceled. That was fascinating because I felt like I was able to bring in a lot of layers of my own experience. I got not just to be an actor, but also, in a lot of ways, to contribute creatively to the writing process and the context of the social media landscape because I had done it for so long. So it was really fun to explore that.
That is going to be a really incredible project that I hope people get to see one day called Marvin is Sorry. And as you can expect, Marvin is very sorry because he gets cancelled. It’s cool because that project gets to talk about the complexities and discourse of modern-day influence, and it ties traditional media, news, and social media like TikTok and stuff altogether. And it has conversations about how that affects all of us in a very nuanced, socially political way that I’ve never quite seen from any recent project. So that is something I’m very excited for.
Song Li believes The Brothers Sun will delight “not just the Asian American community, but any community that stumbles upon this TV show.”
“I really love how it, in a weird way, bends culture as well. It is heavily Asian American, but one of the running jokes is churros! The whole session with churros is hilarious, as well as Taco Bell and In-N-Out. It’s so goofy, and I think that’s what I really love about it.”
The Brothers Sun is now streaming on Netflix.
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